Across the Stars
by LeSkuh
Summary: ...and he forgets how she would wrap her arms around him tightly and laugh all light and tinkling right in his ear  just loud enough to make his heart pound as he raced across the stars with her. :: SonicSally.  SatAM with Archie references kind of ::


**Across the Stars**

For the very first time in as long as he can remember Sonic doesn't want to run.

All of his life he's moved. Run or spun or dashed along the ground and flew through the air and slid and toppled and enough action verbs to make any sane person feel drained. But not him. He moved and moved and didn't tire and didn't care and relished the feeling of wind through his spikes and the sting of a cold gust of air against his eyes. It was the feeling of being alive, of being whole, of being Sonic the fucking Hedgehog.

(and he forgets that he used to take her too - used to show her what it was like to taste the wind and feel eternity)

But suddenly and abruptly the thrill ends. The air is replaced with tears and he trembles just a little beneath her gaze. He hides it the best he can, because he is still Sonic and he is still proud and egotistical and faster than life itself and he hasn't allowed himself to cry in a long time.

"...Hiya." He chokes out. She smiles softly at him. Baby blues meet spunky greens and the result is ocean water. Rain. He wonders if she'll let him name it after water. He doesn't' know how much she still loves him after all and she was always the practical one, but the idea of ocean water being named Steve is all too laughable.

(_and he forgets how she would wrap her arms around him tightly and laugh all light and tinkling right in his ear - just loud enough to make his heart pound as he raced across the stars with her_)

"Hey." She whispers back. She looks tired and it takes all of his restraint to stop himself from running a hand through her hair. He hasn't forgotten the ultimatum or the heartache or even the sting that came with the tears. The unpleasant sting that struck him so deeply and so differently from the way that gusts of air sting. He doesn't think he'll ever forget it. "I'm glad you made it." She says through a yawn.

"Wouldn't miss it, Sal...ly. Princess." Oh and what is he supposed to be now? He corrects himself for errors that used to be truths. She used to be Sal and he used to be Sonic the fucking Hedgehog. Except that he still is, right? Nothing has changed. He still runs across the stars, the only difference is the ache from his empty arms. But he is not changed. He swears he is not.

(_and he forgets that he was happy then - really and truly happy - even though robotnik was alive then and even though the world was doomed then - even though it was sometimes hard to breathe then_)

"Would you...like to hold him?" And she holds him out, the small tufts of red hair clashing miserably with the blue spines and he is ocean water and stars wrapped into one bundle in her arms that she is extending oh so tenderly. Sonic inhales and exhales and tries to remember running across wastelands and the wind in his soul, but all he can feel and see and hear and taste is the ground and Sal's eyes.

Sal's eyes.

Baby blues mixing with spunky greens.

Ocean Water.

And BAM! - just like that the fire is back and he wants to run, wants to speed away into five different directions at once and he wants to take Sal (_SALSALSAL - beautiful, symphony Sally who he loved and loves and iswaswillbe his forever and a day_) and the beautiful clashing ocean water boy who looks too much like him for it to be just a dream (_Squall/Thunder/Storm/Rain - all him... all ocean - and he is real and breathing and tiny and helpless and Sonic's_).

"Oh...Sal." He mumbles as he suddenly tips forward. She gasps and reaches out an arm to stop him from slamming his head against the railing. He regains himself enough to move his head into her lap. The baby is sleeping soundly in the crook of her right arm while she carefully runs her left hand along his spikes. He wants to scoop her up and run and burst into a million billion pieces and remember what it feels like to be full and happy and Sonic the fucking Hedgehog. But for the moment he is content.

"Sally. Princess Sally Acorn. Silly Sally. Sal." He holds out a finger and the baby takes it and grasps it and he feels more real than he has in a long time. "Let's name him after the rain, Sal."

She laughs softly. So much like she used to. Back before the sting that he can never ever forget.

"It's good to hear you say my name." She whispers.

"It's a pretty name." He decides then. A perfect name really. "But I don't think he'd like it very much." He says marveling at the strength of the baby's grip. "So we can't name him Sally, okay?"

"Fair enough."

They are silent for a few moments. Silent, but alive. More alive than they've been in awhile.

"I've missed you." She tells him.

"Yeah..." He agrees and still doesn't admit, but she knows and he knows she knows what he really means.

(_he forgets that he loved her then and that she loved him back and that she too must miss the stars - maybe even more than he does_)

"Sonic. Could you maybe...Uh..." He can hear the hesitation in her voice and hates it and makes a promise to himself that they will never hesitate again and that he will protect her no matter what. He will always protect her and the ocean water.

"What's up, Sal?"

"I want to...I want to run as fast as lightning and speed across the stars. I want you to show me how. I've forgotten. Could you...please?" And she is a princess, but she still begs him to understand what she really needs. She needs someone to care about and who cares about her. She needs more than a kingdom. She needs him.

And so he pushes out of her lap and smiles like he used to - all proud and sure - and he scoops her up as carefully as he can while she wraps her protective, new-mother arms around ocean water who will be named after the rain someday, and moves towards the window. When they get outside he takes off, and it's not as fast as it could be and it isn't the same as it used to be, but it's better than before and they both know it.

"Aw, Sal," he whispers. "I thought you'd never ask."

Fin.

(and he forgets the forgetting and lets the stars back into his life)

- - -

a/n: I guess this is sort of the archie universe/satam universe. If this is AU or impossible or something then...whatever. I don't care. I still wrote it.

It's just a thought I guess.


End file.
